This year, as part of the “In the Tamerlane’s Valley” project (application number 24-2-002168, being implemented with the support from the Presidential Grants Fund and RSF grant No. 24-18-20055), a research study of two mounds has been conducted in the territory of “The Kesene Burial Complex” cultural heritage site of federal importance in the Varnensky District of the Chelyabinsk Region.
The archaeological excavations were carried out by an integrated team consisting of the staff members of the Yuzhny Ural (South Urals) Public Foundation (A.A. Poliakova), Eurasian Studies Research and Education Centre (K.G. Margarian, A.V. Parunin) of SUSU, as well as an archaeologist from Chelyabinsk State University (F.N. Petrov).
The Kesene burial complex had been forming over a long period of time, starting from the Bronze Age and till late Middle Ages. The most recent full-fledged research in the territory of the monument was held in the 1980s by a Urals-Kazakhstan archaeological expedition headed by G.B. Zdanovich, S.G. Botalov and A.D. Tairov.
Today, this burial site is slowly destroying due to the intensive agricultural activities. As compared to satellite image as of 2017, about 50 of the mound embankments already now cannot be visually registered. In this context, the current works targeted the mounds partially destroyed by ploughing-up to the south of the complex.
In the course of the excavations, archaeologists completed the examination of mounds 1 and 6 dating back to late Middle Ages. In the centre of the mounds, bone chambers with wooden structures were found. Among discoveries, a facetted carnelian bead is worth mentioning. It is planned to continue the research studies of the Kesene burial complex during the next field season.